All Dying In The Space Of Hours Help Me Please!

[friendlyfishy777]

3 stopped hoplo, 15 corydoras(now down to 8), 16 rasboras now down to 14

Nitrate 20 ppm
Nite 0
Ammonia 0

Water change 50% once a week
PH 7.5

200L tank running fluval 405

Had fish since late August
Added 5 knew fish two weeks ago after a 2 and half month quarantine period

I'm in floods of tears, I don't know what's going on. Put new fish in two weeks ago, they were first to die.
Some looked sluggish before hand others showed no signs of illness, I just found them dead.

But the last few deaths I've witnessed in what look like perfectly healthy fish....

they go bonkers swimming around the tank going to the surface as if trying to escape something then drop down to the ground cold dead... no signs of illness, but quite DEAD! Just mins before logging on another fish died in the same horrible way! They look really scared before they die.

I am so deeply fond of my fish they are family. HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[balajake]

your tank might me poisoned. fill a a very clean bucket up with dechlorinated, temp matched water a put your fish in it. then get everything out of the tank and clean it all. the filter pads should only be cleaned in dechlorinated water though. . get every drop of water out and replace it with new dechlorinteded water mixed with warm water to bring up the temp quicker, a hose is good for that. make sure you clean the gravel in buckets too by putting the bucket under a tap until its overflowing, stish it around everu now and then to release the gunk. and any wood i suggest boiling kettle water. once everthing is clean you can put it in and fill the tank back up. and get the fish back in after running the filters for abit and the temp is right.


it might not be whats up but the deaths are sudden and its better than waiting for more to drop

 

[snazy]

Sorry to hear that. It must be horrible watching them.

Since the quarantined fish were fine for 2.5 months and they died in your main tank after being moved then it is a good idea to do a huge water change just in case you have a contaminated tank.

How long since they started dying? Two weeks? Is your tank well oxygenated? Any contamination, soapy hands, etc..?

Are there any signs? Red gills, white poop, etc..?

 

[afremont]

your tank might me poisoned. fill a a very clean bucket up with dechlorinated, temp match water a put your fish in it. then get everything out of the tank and clean it all. the filter pads should only be cleaned in dechlorinated water though. . get every drop of water out and replace it with clean. clean the gravel in buckets too and any wood i suggest boiling kettle water

+1

 

[balajake]

don't wait another second. i would have corys in a different bucket to your other fish too if its possible

 

[friendlyfishy777]

The first fish died a week ago, one of the new ones I put in. Then after that all the new ones died at a rate of roughly one a day.
But yesterday two fish died and three other fish have died in the space of a few hours today.

The tank is well oxygenated, I have the spray bar well above the water so it hits the water surface creating bubbles. Poop is brown looks normal.

The only thing I've done differently over the last week, is I put fluval ammonia remover in the filter because I never found the first corydora dead for two days, as a new fish to the tank he had been shy and I thought I just hadn't seen him.

 

[balajake]

it could be anything. air freshner, hairspray, deodorant, fly spray, flea treatment or anything you could have had on your hand or arm. someone else in your house might have done something totally accidental

 

[friendlyfishy777]

it could be anything. air freshner, hairspray, deodorant, fly spray, flea treatment or anything you could have had on your hand or arm. someone else in your house might have done something totally accidental

I can't think of anything like that. I always change in the bathroom so no hairspray or deodorant is ever sprayed in my bedroom. I don't have an air fresher either. I keep the windows open most of the time too.

 

[snazy]

The thing about fish going bonkers and looking like trying to escape happens just before they are about to die. I am presuming you are referring to the corydoras in particular as from what I know this is how they behave before they die.

I am presuming you still have the quarantine tank. Why don't you try to move a few of the fish to it to see if they will survive in another tank? This will tell you whether the tank is contaminated or the fish have some internal parasite/bacteria killing them.

Are you testing the water regularly? Have the ammonia and nitrite been 0 all this time? What dechlorinator have you used and at what dosage?

 

[friendlyfishy777]

Hi all,

A little update.

First I went to the LSF and they gave worm treatment. I dosed once even though I didn't think they had worms, I didn't want to take any risks. The stuff seemed to knock one of my hoplos for six (he rapidity went downhill and seemed to be clinging to life), and a few more Rasboras dropped dead over night.

The next day I went to a vet in Richmond that actually knows about fish (rare, I know). He preformed an autopsy on one of my dead cory cats and found him to be free of worms, etc. The night before treating the tank I filled a drinking bottle full of tank water and he tested that also. He found no poisons in the water but he did find a rather high concentration of chlorine in the water. I was very shocked by this as a few months ago I switched to only using Ro Water to top up the tank, purchased weekly from my LFS. Because Ro Water is supposed to be free of all nasty stuff, I had stopped using Seachem Prime to dechlorinate. It seems as though this may have been the cause of the deaths, as I had done a massive Ro water change of 70% only a day or two before all this started happening. Because I wanted the tank to be extra clean because I was to be too busy to maintain the tank properly for a week.

Anyway, when I got home from the vets I did a big water change of 50% with tap water and dropped enough Seachem Prime to account for 200L of water, as I didn't want to take any risks. I've been little water changes ever since, each day. Since then there have been no more deaths until last night, when unexpectedly another Rasbora died on me. Maybe the death is a horrible coincidence - really hope so. I've only got 7 or eight of the Rasboras left. Maybe the change in GH and KH has killed this other Rasbora, as I suspect with the big water changes to tap water that might have changed - I can't tell as that's the only test I don't have to hand. Though, I'm now worried that due to the chlorine my tank maybe cycling again.

I just want to thank everyone for coming to my aid and giving advice... it helped. If poison hadn't been suggested I wouldn't have had the water tested and wouldn't have been aware of chlorine. I shall be letting my LFS know that their RO Water filter isn't working. And I shall be looking into buying some kind of chlorine tester.

My fish are eating and showing signs of health again. One of my dear hoplos was so near death doors at one point, and was so pale, but he seems to be showing interest in life again too.

 

[afremont]

Hi all,

A little update.

First I went to the LSF and they gave worm treatment. I dosed once even though I didn't think they had worms, I didn't want to take any risks. The stuff seemed to knock one of my hoplos for six (he rapidity went downhill and seemed to be clinging to life), and a few more Rasboras dropped dead over night.

The next day I went to a vet in Richmond that actually knows about fish (rare, I know). He preformed an autopsy on one of my dead cory cats and found him to be free of worms, etc. The night before treating the tank I filled a drinking bottle full of tank water and he tested that also. He found no poisons in the water but he did find a rather high concentration of chlorine in the water. I was very shocked by this as a few months ago I switched to only using Ro Water to top up the tank, purchased weekly from my LFS. Because Ro Water is supposed to be free of all nasty stuff, I had stopped using Seachem Prime to dechlorinate. It seems as though this may have been the cause of the deaths, as I had done a massive Ro water change of 70% only a day or two before all this started happening. Because I wanted the tank to be extra clean because I was to be too busy to maintain the tank properly for a week.

Anyway, when I got home from the vets I did a big water change of 50% with tap water and dropped enough Seachem Prime to account for 200L of water, as I didn't want to take any risks. I've been little water changes ever since, each day. Since then there have been no more deaths until last night, when unexpectedly another Rasbora died on me. Maybe the death is a horrible coincidence - really hope so. I've only got 7 or eight of the Rasboras left. Maybe the change in GH and KH has killed this other Rasbora, as I suspect with the big water changes to tap water that might have changed - I can't tell as that's the only test I don't have to hand. Though, I'm now worried that due to the chlorine my tank maybe cycling again.

I just want to thank everyone for coming to my aid and giving advice... it helped. If poison hadn't been suggested I wouldn't have had the water tested and wouldn't have been aware of chlorine. I shall be letting my LFS know that their RO Water filter isn't working. And I shall be looking into buying some kind of chlorine tester.

My fish are eating and showing signs of health again. One of my dear hoplos was so near death doors at one point, and was so pale, but he seems to be showing interest in life again too.

Man that's sad news for the fish, but great that you know exactly what the problem was and were able to easily fix it. I guess on a positive note, your tank and fish should be fairly free of parasites, fungus and bacteria now. You should keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrIte levels in case your biological filter was damaged by the chlorine. Plus your fish's gills probably took a beating from it, it's amazing how frail they are yet they often recover from all kinds of varied attacks. You might keep the water changes going pretty good to help them heal up. Fish have great immune systems, given the right conditions they can usually fend off most things themselves. Glad to hear they're perking up. Keep an eye on those gills.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Sorry to read about your tradegy for the first time just now

 

[friendlyfishy777]

Well, it looked to be all over. I'd even ordered a bigger tank a few days ago for everyone to go in and was looking forward to transferring them over. Everything has been just fine until last night ...

Everyone was up at the glass waiting for their feed. The hoplos all came swimming up doing their circles at the front of the glass they do when wanting to be feed. I popped in some defrosted blood worms and everyone got stuck into their treat. Then I saw a dead Rasbora float by.... sadly netted the fish, thinking now down to four of those. Then out the corner of my eye I saw my fat greedy male hoplo (not the one who was ill previously) dancing and back flipping near the surface of the water. I thought he was trying out new tricks to get some of the blood worm that was floating on the surface of the water, I even laughed and wondered where my camera was when I needed it. But then he suddenly fell back and froze, and drifted into the plant leafs. There he was now suddenly pale, gills moving fast, weak... over the next hour he tried to move and eventually made it back round to the front of the tank, laying belly up on the sand, breathing slowly when I last saw him. I went away for a bit hoping when I came back he'd be alive and well, but no... he was dead. One of the other Hoplos was sitting right next to him and so was a little cory cat that used to follow the great fish about.

This hoplo looked in the prime of his health, big chunky boy, happy and busy.... nice orange tipped fins displaying he was in breeding condition. I still have the other hoplo that had showed signs of illness, I thought if any of the hoplos died it would have been him. But no, it was this chap that showed absolutely no signs of illness. Acting and behaving normally right up to a minute before dashing on that surface of water. This is a new pack of blood worms so I can't put it down to their treat either.

I'm at a loss...

I'm getting an autopsy done on the hoplo in case anything shows up that didn't on the cory cat.

 

[friendlyfishy777]

Could it be the sand?

It's not very deep but at the very back where the plants are the sand is about 1- 1 half inches in some places (to cover the roots). The fish never root through it as there's a rock with holes for them to swim through right next to the plants, to stop the plants being rooted up. Would this be enough to cause poisonous gasses from anaerobic bacteria?

 

[balajake]

It could be the sand yes. And you wouldn't be the first person this has happened too. If you think it's the sand then get it out and put clean substrate in.